April 17, 2014Shoe Render Tutorial, Reloaded

This is what we are going to see today – a shoe render with a simple way.

Let me start with a bad example. Using the brush tool without a thoughtful selection (we will talk about it, OK?) will not give a good result. Actually it will give a very pathetic result.

Also – even if the selection is pretty accurate, an oversized texture will mess up the picture.

So, let me show you step by step, how is it done! (I am not going to explain all the PS tricks, sorry about that).

First step – accurate selection. You can fill it up with some bright, saturated color.

This would be actually a pretty good example for illustration the color ways – I would perfectly accept it – but not as a render.

Finding the right size of texture will make a huge difference. Still not photorealistic (what we actually will not try to achieve this time)

What is missing? Well… shades, other textures, shadows, and in this case, as we work with matte materials, no highlights.

Let’s talk about a typical problem, white lines around the black lines. If you digital-print your work, it is not a big deal, but for the screen it doesn’t look so good.

Here is what you can do about it, extend the selection with one pixel, before you drop the texture on it. The color (and the texture) will “go” underneath the lines, so no white lines at all.

Here. Way better, isn’t it?

Adding shadows on the shoe makes it more realistic. Work on a separate layer for the better control! First step: draw the shadow roughly.

The use gaussian blur and lower the opacity (make sure you use multiply to enhance the color intend of make it pale)

Her is it:

Let’s do something about the rubber sole. Even if it is white, we can add a bit of color and noise (short version: why not? png version: it is never white, so it will look more real). You can also add shadows. Same way: blur, opacity, multiply, separate layer…

Now, let’s do something about those white laces. Let’s add a woven texture. This was pretty much the first picture I found about this. Right, it is not shoelaces, but… woven and it is perfectly enough for me.

I copied a few times, so it can cover the laces (which are now on an other layer and I used a mask)

A quick color adjustment – and the lace now looks like woven lace. The size of the texture is not entirely correct. The reason is: that would be pretty small, maybe not even visible and we want to show it, so, we exaggerate a bit.

A bit of a color adjustment will make it more real looking.

You know what make things more realistic too? Shadows. How lucky we are that PS offers that function.

I also added a bit color on the counter-lining. White doesn’t look real.

Now let’s add the final details! Eyelets – also a fast, but very effective way: PS emboss effect. Never gets boring and pretty accurate.

Add a little color for the eyelets.

Now add a little 2-3 layered shadows underneath which will show the toe spring and also give a little bit of 3D feeling – you are done! Ready to put into your portfolio or send it to the factory. (note: the white line around intentionally left white – a little white accent is not a problem, au contrary a pretty nice detail)